NORTH CAROLINA
      Nov. 8, 2016 Governor

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+Roy Cooper (D)
 2,309,157 49.02%
Pat McCrory (R) i
 2,298,880 48.80%
Lon Cecil (L)
 102,977
 2.19%

4,711,014
Registered voters: 6,914,248.  Ballots cast: 4,769,640.
Plurality: 10,277 votes (0.22 percentage points).
 NC State Board of Elections


DEMOCRATIC PICKUP
Notes: Gov. Pat McCrory (R) seeking a second term, touted "North Carolina's Comeback," but Democrats charged North Carolina Republicans were engaging in voter suppression and there was controversy over the "bathroom bill" which McCrory signed on Mar. 23, 2016.  Adding intensity, the state was a presidential battleground (+) and had a closer than expected U.S. Senate race. 

McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) debated before the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters in Chapel Hill on Oct. 11, and all three candidates debated at WRAL studios in Raleigh on Oct. 18.

Cooper defeated McCrory by just 0.22 percentage points.  Lon Cecil (L), a retired engineer, was also in the race.  In the days following the election McCrory's campaign filed complaints alleging voter fraud, there was a recount of the votes from some sites in Durham County (but not statewide as the campaign had sought), and McCrory did not concede until Dec. 5; he was the only incumbent governor defeated.

According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, the Cooper campaign outraised the McCrory campaign by $24.4 million to $15.6 million (>).  In addition, independent groups poured record amounts of money into the race–a total of $16.4 million according to Facing South, the online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies, $8.1 million backing McCrory and $7.2 million Cooper (>).  Leading spenders were the Republican Governors Association ($6.3 million opposing Cooper) and A Better N.C. ($4.3 million opposing McCrory).

Campaign Managers:
Roy Cooper: Trey Nix
Campaign manager on U.S. Sen. Mark Warner's (VA) 2014 re-election campaign.  Campaign manager on Aneesh Chopra's 2013 campaign for lieutenant governor of Virginia.  Originally from Alabama.

Pat McCrory: Russell Peck
A senior vice president of Mercury Public Affairs in Raleigh, NC, Feb. 2013-Sept. 2015.  Campaign manager on Pat McCrory's 2012 gubernatorial campaign, Feb.-Dec. 2012.  Director of external affairs for America's Natural Gas Alliance, July 2011-Feb. 2012.  Executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, Dec. 2009-June 2011.  New Jersey Victory director, July-Dec. 2009.  North Carolina Victory director, July 2008-Feb. 2009.  Director of congressional affairs for the Republican Party of Florida, Jan.July 2008.  Account manager at Enwright Consulting, July 2007-Jan. 2008.  Florida organizational director on John McCain 2008, Jan.-July 2007.  Director of voter registration for the Republican Party of Florida, May 2005-Nov. 2006.  Special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor, Jan.-May 2005.  Southwest Florida field director for Bush-Cheney '04, Jan.-Nov. 2004.  B.S. in finance, English from Florida State University, 2003; earlier attended Oklahoma State University.



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